Christmas, Just The Two Of Us
by Aki Kaede
Summary: [Oneshot] Cagalli meets Athrun while walking home on a cold winter night and he shows her something she would never imagine. Feelings arise in this cold Christmas season. AsuCaga AU


Author's notes: This is a wintery, pre-Christmas fic!

Actually I still have some AsuCaga fics to be posted due to some reason or other (don't know what title to give etc). But there should be some active posting from me these days. :D

This fic is **AU **because the idea just popped into my head and it would be better off AU. This is one of the few AU oneshots I have done for AsuCaga and I rather like it! The characters are in high school here.

I also noticed that many people are asking who is the secret admirer in **His Love, His Jealousy**. Well, it is not Athrun (definitely). I wrote it this way so that it can be anybody, Kira, Shinn, Auel, Yzak, Dearka, Sting even Mwu, Andrew, Nicol, Rusty and whoever you can put in. Its supposed to be that way. It is also a oneshot as I have no idea of continuing the fic.

Anyway, thanks to all my reviewers!

Enjoy this fic and please review!

Merry Christmas!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed/Destiny or any of its characters.

**

* * *

**

**Christmas, Just The Two Of Us **

"Thank you for your patronage!" a cheery voice sounded from the counter of the bookstore.

A blonde female student walked out of the bookstore, clutching in her hands a paper bag. She was wearing an overcoat with her school's emblem on it. A wool scarf fit snugly around her neck. It was winter, and it was evident. Snow covered the streets and everything around, turning the land into a white world. It had been snowing until a while ago, coupled with the chilly night; the temperature in Orb was brought done by many degrees. People were having hot meals, like oden and steamboat and decked out in the latest winter collection.

Cagalli walked carefully, watching her every step. Walking on the snow-covered pathways was not very easy and she was afraid she might fall. She blew at her bare hands. She had forgotten her gloves today.

_"It's so cold!" _Cagalli thought. _"I better check my bag every morning to see if I have brought everything next time!"_

Cagalli gazed up at the sky. It was filled with grey clouds which was noticeable even in the dark sky.

"Looks like we are going to have a white Christmas this year!" Cagalli mumbled to herself. All of a sudden, Cagalli felt a hand on her shoulder and a male voice.

"Hey!"

Cagalli spun around to face a smiling Athrun.

"Hi Athrun." she greeted.

"What are you doing out so late?" Athrun asked. Then he caught sight of the paper bag in her hands with the symbol of the bookstore. "You went to the bookstore?" Cagalli nodded her head.

"What did you get?" Athrun asked again. "Reference books?"

Cagalli grinned and opened her paper bag. She took out a few books from the bag. "Comics." She replied.

Athrun laughed. Cagalli was Cagalli. She would never change.

_"And that's why I…that's why I…" _A hint of pink shaded Athrun's cheeks.

"And what are you doing out so late?" Cagalli asked.

"My parents aren't around so I had dinner outside." Athrun answered. "Won't your parents and Kira be worried if you stayed out too late?"

"I'm already 18 you know!" Cagalli protested. "And I told Kira I'll be late today. My parents are also out on an assignment."

"I see." Athrun said. He thought for a while, and then an idea popped into his head.

"Cagalli, you want to go somewhere?" Athrun asked, his eyes shining.

"At this time?" Cagalli said with a doubtful look on her features.

"Yes." Athrun nodded. "It will be fun!" he grinned.

Cagalli thought for a while, and her adventurous side took over. "All right!" she readily agreed.

"Let's go then!" Athrun held a huge smile on his face and grabbed Cagalli's hand and ran.

"A…Athrun!" Cagalli let out as she was pulled along by him. She could distinctly feel the warmth of his hand on hers. He was not wearing gloves too. His hand was big and warm even in this cold weather and it fully engulfed her hand.

_"He…He's a boy after all…" _Cagalli thought as she blushed hard. She was glad Athrun was in front of her and could not notice her flushed cheeks.

* * *

"Here we are!" Athrun announced. A panting Cagalli raised her head to see…

"The school?" Cagalli almost screamed in surprise.

"Shhh!!!" Athrun let out as he quickly clamped his hand across Cagalli's mouth.

"Mfff!!!" Cagalli struggled. "Why did you bring me to school!" she whispered angrily when Athrun's hands left her mouth.

"There are things to see at school at night!" Athrun winked at Cagalli. "You haven't seen what the school is like at night right?"

"Like what?" Cagalli asked, and then began to shiver. "You mean…like ghosts…"

"Of course not!" Athrun quickly replied. "You'll see!" he said as he began to climb up the wall.

"Come on up!" Athrun extended his hand out to Cagalli once he was on top of the wall. Cagalli pouted slightly before accepting his hand.

Soon, the couple were in the school.

"Where are you taking me Athrun?" Cagalli whispered as she darted her eyes in all directions.

"The garden." Athrun answered. "Let's go."

"The…" Cagalli had no time to say as Athrun pulled her away from where she was.

* * *

"Ahhh!!!" Cagalli stretched, taking in the night air. "Why do we have to come to the garden Athrun? It's not like we can see anything." She asked. She got no answer.

"Athrun?" Cagalli called out. "Where are you?"

"Right here." Athrun answered, kneeling down somewhere.

"What are you doing there?" Cagalli asked.

"Just a minute Cagalli." Athrun replied. He was concentrated in his task. "Just a minute…"

"There!" Athrun proclaimed proudly fifteen seconds later.

"Wow!" Cagalli's eyes lit up as she scanned the surroundings. The lights on the Christmas tree in the garden glittered brightly while small lights around the garden gave out a soft glow.

"Wow!" Cagalli exclaimed. "This is beautiful Athrun! How did you do it?"

"It was easy actually." Athrun shrugged his shoulders. "There should be something supplying power for the lights around here as they were put up just for the Christmas party."

"I guess we are the first to see the Christmas tree at night." Cagalli was staring at the Christmas tree. "We got in front of all the others!"

Athrun stood beside Cagalli. "The others will only see this on Christmas day, where there will be a party." He said. "But I don't really like it then. There are too many people." He continued.

"That's right. I don't like such parties either." Cagalli agreed. She then walked towards the tree. "Found it!"

"Found what?" Athrun asked as he went over to Cagalli.

"My wish!" Cagalli replied. Every Christmas, the school would have their students write down their Christmas wishes on a piece of paper and hang it on the Christmas tree. The tree was covered with the many wishes of the students in the school.

"This tree is only beautiful when it Christmas." Cagalli commented. "When winter ends, it will be back to just a normal fir tree again!" she laughed.

Athrun joined in her laughter. He then went closer to where Cagalli was. "So what did you wish for?"

Cagalli quickly covered her slip of paper which was hanging on the tree. "You can't see it!" she raised her voice slightly.

"Why?" Athrun asked.

"Be…because…" Cagalli stammered as her cheeks burnt up slightly. "Because if you knew it, it wouldn't come true!"

"All right all right!" Athrun chuckled. "I won't see!"

"Where's yours then?" Cagalli pouted.

"There!" Athrun pointed to a very high place on the tree.

"That's so high…" Cagalli stated. "How did you put it there? What did you write?"

"It's a _secret_!" Athrun winked mischievously at Cagalli.

"Hey!" Cagalli began hitting Athrun while he laughed.

"Fine then!" Cagalli pouted when she stopped her assault on Athrun. "I'll see the others."

"This is Kira's one!" Cagalli exclaimed as she saw Kira's name on a slip of paper. "I wish that Lacus and I would live happily ever after and all my friends and family would also be happy forever." She read out. "As expected of him!"

"Dearka was trying to squeeze a thousand wishes in his little piece of paper." Athrun recalled. "He wished that Mirialla was his girlfriend, he would be popular among girls…"

"And he calls himself a gentleman." Cagalli snorted.

"Nicol is the only gentleman in our group." Athrun told her.

Cagalli stared at Athrun before giving him a wide smile. "Oh yeah. The famous and popular Athrun Zala who is supposed to be the best gentleman in the whole universe actually sneaks into school at night." She mocked.

"Hey!" Athrun protested and ruffled Cagalli's hair as she laughed. A gentle smile crept across his features.

"Oh who's this?" Cagalli let out. Her face soon changed to that of disgust. "Athrun, look what your darling Meer wrote for her Christmas wish." She said sarcastically.

Athrun cringed at the thought of the pink-haired mimic who was also recognised in school as his number one fangirl. She followed, no, she _stalked _him everywhere and stuck to him as if he had glue over him or something like that. It was also her who was always hindering his moments with…

"I wish that Athrun will love me MORE!" Cagalli read out, squirming at every word she read. "He already loves me, but I want him to love me MORE! HE WILL ONLY LOVE ME IN THIS WORLD!!!"

"Goodness me…" Athrun hit his forehead. That Meer surely had a vivid imagination.

"I think half the tree is filled with their love declarations for you Athrun." Cagalli commented in a not-very-amused tone. "This one if from Lunamaria Hawke, this is from Meyrin Hawke, this is from the girl in the next class, this is from the girl in the tennis club…"

Before Cagalli could continue, she felt something cold hitting her from the back.

"What…" Cagalli let out as she spun around to see a grinning Athrun tossing a snow ball up and down in the air.

"Watch out Cagalli!" Athrun warned and threw the snowball straight at her. It hit her directly on the face.

"How's that!" Athrun declared proudly.

Cagalli stood rooted the ground, shivering not from the cold, but from rage.

"Why you…Athrun!!!" Cagalli screamed and starting throwing snowballs as fast as she could at the chortling Athrun who was running away. Soon, a full-blown snowball fight broke out on the school grounds, with a laughing boy and girl taking the different sides in this war.

"There!" Cagalli threw an entire pile of snow at Athrun. He retaliated by throwing a larger amount of snow at her.

"Hey!" Cagalli laughed wholeheartedly. Athrun gazed at her and smiled.

_I wish you could know how much I feel for you._

"What about this!" Cagalli aimed a snowball at Athrun who ducked from it easily.

"You've got lots more to learn Cagalli!" Athrun mocked jokingly. It was just then a snowball flew right into his face.

"Now who has got lots more to learn?" Cagalli smirked.

_Because of you, I learnt the meaning of love._

"All right, I'm going to get you Cagalli!" Athrun said as he chased after Cagalli who was running away as fast as she could.

"All right! I surrender I surrender!" Cagalli panted as she laughed. Athrun reached his hand out and gently caressed her soft blond hair.

"There…there's snow on your hair!" Athrun stuttered nervously as he quickly retracted his hand after Cagalli looked up at him curiously.

"Oh thanks." Cagalli thanked Athrun innocently. "Let's build a snowman!" She started piling snow together. Athrun decided to join her in her new-found endeavour.

"Hmmhmmmhmmm…" Cagalli hummed a Christmas tune as her amber eyes held concentration. Athrun admired this scene.

_I wish you could always be by my side._

"Done!" Cagalli shouted happily. "My snowman is so pretty! Don't you agree Ath…" she was cut off by a mound of snow which landed on her face.

Athrun was on his feet, smirking away. "Since Mr. Snowman is done, ready for Round 2?"

"Why you!" Cagalli quickly stood up and got herself engaged in a snow battle with Athrun again. Laughter erupted once more on the snowy grounds.

_I love you._

A light breeze swept through the school compound. The wishes on the Christmas tree fluttered in the cold wind. Right at the top of the Christmas tree near to where the Christmas Star was, a piece of paper twisted and turned in response to change in pressures.

"_I wish that Cagalli would always be happy and my feelings for her would never change." – Athrun Zala

* * *

_

Author's notes: The words in italics without " are Athrun's feelings. Something like the narration of the main character in a drama serial or when an insert song is playing. Something like that. A bit cliche I know. If you do not understand, go watch some Korean drama serials. They have _plenty_ of these! Lol!

The last sentence in italics is what Athrun wrote for his wish.

Hope that will be clearer!

Please read and review!

Merry Christmas!


End file.
